The short answer.
Mark a flashback in its scene heading, with FLASHBACK in brackets after the time of day: INT. ALBUQUERQUE BUS STATION - DAY (FLASHBACK). A dream or a memory is marked the same way. For a run of scenes, open with BEGIN FLASHBACK and close with END FLASHBACK, then return to the present with an ordinary scene heading.
On this page
Marking a flashback
A reader needs to know, the moment the scene begins, that it is not the present. The scene heading is where to say so. The common practice is to add the label in brackets after the time of day: INT. ALBUQUERQUE BUS STATION - DAY (FLASHBACK). A year in the heading, (FLASHBACK, 1979), or on a SUPER: line in the action does the same job. Writers do this several ways, and any of them works as long as it is clear and you use it the same way each time.
INT. ROUTE 9 DINER - NIGHT
June looks at the empty stool. She does not look away.
INT. ALBUQUERQUE BUS STATION - DAY (FLASHBACK)
A younger JUNE, twenty, one suitcase and a ticket. Nobody has come to see her off.
INT. ROUTE 9 DINER - NIGHT
Same stool. Same rain.
A run of flashback scenes
When a flashback covers several scenes, labeling every heading gets heavy. Open it with BEGIN FLASHBACK on its own line, write the scenes with ordinary headings, and close with END FLASHBACK. The cost is that a scene read on its own no longer says it is a flashback, so some writers label each heading anyway. Choose whichever makes the reader do less work.
Dreams, memories and imagined scenes
A dream, a memory and a fantasy are formatted exactly like a flashback, with their own label in the heading: INT. THEO’S BEDROOM - NIGHT (DREAM). Use the label that is true. A memory is a scene that happened; a dream or a fantasy did not, and the label tells the reader which they are reading.
If the surprise depends on the reader not knowing the scene is a dream, write it as an ordinary scene and let the reveal do the work. Be careful with it: a reveal that feels like a trick costs the reader their trust.
Getting back to the present
The next scene heading does it. Give the present location and time, as in any scene heading, and the reader is back. You can add a short BACK TO PRESENT line, but the heading is enough.
What to leave out
- A transition such as
DISSOLVE TO:into the flashback. It is allowed, but the label already says it. - Directions for how a flashback should look, such as black and white or soft focus. Those belong to the director.
In First Page
Type the heading the way you would any other: First Page capitalises it as you go. On the Mac, Script Assist suggests the time of day after the dash, and you can add words of your own to its Times list in Document, then Script Assist.
Questions
- How do you write a flashback in a screenplay?
- Put FLASHBACK in the scene heading, usually in brackets after the time of day, as in INT. ALBUQUERQUE BUS STATION - DAY (FLASHBACK). Then write the scene as you would any other, in the present tense. A year in the heading or on a super helps the reader place it.
- How do you end a flashback?
- Write a new scene heading in the present, with the present location and time. If the flashback ran over several scenes, you can close it with END FLASHBACK first. A line such as BACK TO PRESENT is optional.
- How do you format a dream sequence?
- The same way: label it in the scene heading with DREAM, or MEMORY or FANTASY, and return to reality with a normal scene heading. If the story depends on the reader not knowing it is a dream, write it as an ordinary scene and let the reveal do the work.
- Do you need a transition like DISSOLVE TO: into a flashback?
- No. The label in the scene heading already tells the reader what is happening. A transition is optional, and most modern scripts leave it out.
